Biblical park to be built in Jerusalem

Israel’s Interior Ministry announced this week that a 5,000 square meter tourist complex in Silwan, the neighborhood directly south of Jerusalem’s Old City predominantly populated by Arabs, will be built. The park, with a Biblical theme highlighting the archeological evidence that the area was the site of the city King David built, is part of a proposed project called the ‘King's Garden.’ The move is likely to cause further tensions in Jerusalem as Arab residents refuse to move out of their homes to make way for the construction despite promises of compensation, and Muslim groups in the city and regional governments accuse Israel of attempting to “Judaize Jerusalem.”

Shabbat buses in Tel Aviv cause uproar
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai told Army Radio on Wednesday he will continue to press for public transportation services to be allowed in his city on Saturdays, despite vehement resistance from Tel Aviv chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and a promise by the Transportation Ministry that it will "not infringe [upon] the status quo which has been in place for decades regarding all aspects of public transport on Shabbat,” which was interpreted as a veto of the idea. "We must determine if we want to live in a democratic, Jewish state or a solely Jewish state - which will be similar to Iran," Huldai said. "The citizens have the right to visit their relatives on Shabbat or go out for a trip." The Tel Aviv Municipal Council recently voted to allow buses to run on Saturday, but the measure has yet to become law.

Iranian agents arrested in Azerbaijan
State TV in Azerbaijan announced on Tuesday that security forces have apprehended a large cell of operatives linked to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its Lebanese proxy terror militia Hezbollah.  The cell members are suspected of planning terrorist attacks in the country, which is a close ally of Israel and the West and a competitor with Iran in the oil and natural gas sectors. The announcement follows the arrest of two men last month on suspicion of planning attacks on prominent Israelis in Azerbaijan.

For a closer look at Iran’s support for international terrorism, click HERE (PDF)

Gaza will accept electricity from Egypt
The Hamas terror militia which runs the Gaza Strip admitted on Tuesday that it cannot meet the demands of Gaza residents for electrical power and accepted an offer from Egypt for 22 megawatts of electricity a week. Egypt "will begin boosting the Gaza Strip with around 22 megawatts of electricity at the start of next week, to confront the crisis there and ease the suffering of the Palestinian people," Hamas spokesman Hassan Younes said. Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh added that the Strip was facing a "real humanitarian crisis" and begged Egypt to set up a more permanent solution.

Abdullah vows talks to continue
Jordan’s King Abdullah II told a delegation of American Jewish leaders he met in Amman on Tuesday that there was still hope for direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that he hosted last month, despite the apparent lack of interest in the two sides in continuing at this time. The deadlock over continued talks has arisen from a PA demand that Israel freeze all settlement construction, release some Fatah prisoners and agree to the pre-1967 lines as the baseline of future talks, while Israel has signaled that it will wait to see whether Hamas will join the PA before deciding on its next move. Abdullah added that in his opinion, Israel was to blame for the failure of talks thus far.